Tamil Nadu is one of the power-stricken states in the country. The region has been consistently looking at utilising solar energy to generate power but hindrances have hampered the progress on more than one occasion. Even now critical questions, that need to be sorted for setting up solar power projects in Tamil Nadu remain unanswered.
According to an IANS report, a pre-bid meeting by the state power utility left a lot to be desired on the subject of setting solar power tariffs, as per renewable energy consultants and potential investors.
But the meeting did allow officials of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. (TANGEDCO) to find answers on the aspects like power purchase agreements (PPA) and payment mechanism, the report said. TANGEDCO will be responsible for handling the bidding process to set up 1,000 MW solar power projects in the state, which falls in line with the new solar power policy announced earlier this year. “TANGEDCO officials said the draft PPA and the draft letter of credit will be uploaded on the company’s website shortly. The state power regulator has also been taken into confidence on the solar power policy,” a renewable energy consultant who attended the meeting told IANS.
According to him, there are some serious unknown variables that would have real impact on the operator’s profitability on which clarity is not available except verbal assurances from the top brass of TANGEDCO that they would help the investors.
“Issues on evacuation of power and the capacity of the sub-stations were the major issue raised by the potential bidders at the meeting. Clarity on the issue from TANGEDCO officials would have been better,” said Narasimhan Santhanam, co-founder and director, Energy Alternatives India.
Some investors said that the Jan 4 deadline was too short to tie up land and other aspects. “In my opinion if an investor has land and planning to set up a plant of around 10 MW then he can submit his bid. But those who plan to have bigger plants but without land then bidding will be a risky proposition given the unknown variables,” Santhanam said.
